Finally, a game for little girl gamers!

Faced with a summer of long plane trips and tired of lugging around my laptop so my 5 1/2 y.o. daughter could play computer games, I bought a Gameboy Advance SP (another review for another time). Now, I was faced with the daunting task of coming up with a game that would be easy enough for her to play without becoming overly frustrated, and a game that would appeal to her interest. She is ALL girl...Barbie and the Disney Princesses rule her world. So naturally, that's where I looked first. I found the Disney Princess game at several retail stores...all for the same $29.99 price (and since I needed it quickly I didn't have time to order it online).

I showed it to her, and she watched me play a little bit, but it wasn't too long before she was ready to fly solo. Mind you...she'd never picked up a Gameboy before, so she had to get used to the controls and the concept of the games. No worries. Pretty soon she was beyond me on the game levels!

Here are the game details in a nutshell (mind you, I'm a mom...not a computer programmer so this will be pretty general):

Each of the 6 Disney Princesses has her own game, and each game has 3 levels. Before starting the games, you can choose the level of difficulty, which doesn't change the way the game plays...it just gives you longer or shorter lives in which to accomplish your task. Each princesses mission is similar: you have to collect something (jewels, wands, etc.) in order to restore characters (fairies, dwarfs, etc.) to their original forms after an evil character has turned them into something else. While collecting, you navigate the princesses through scenes and try to avoid dangers that will shorten the life of the princess. The princesses are given some special powers, too, to thwart the evil villains. Of the six, I thought that Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella offered the easier games, while Jasmine, Belle, and Ariel seemed more difficult. Of course, my daughter promptly figured out even the more difficult ones enough to get to the second levels... None of the games were overly violent and there is no evidence of gory, bloody stuff.

The graphics are great but there is no narration, so if your child cannot yet read, be prepared to read aloud some of the little messages or storyboards that pop up from time to time. The music and sound effects are good also...but bound to be annoying to adults if they are turned too loud for too long.

Mission accomplished: my daughter happily played her game on the plane, in the car, and while waiting in restaurants. And although I did pick up a couple other games I thought she might like...she didn't want to stop playing Disney Princess long enough to try them!